Robin van Persie hails Lukas Podolski move to Arsenal

Robin van Persie has hailed Arsenal's capture of Germany striker Lukas
Podolski, even though his own future at the Emirates remains in doubt.

Forward power: Lukas Podolski will be an Arsenal player next seasonPhoto: EPA

By Ben Findon, at Emirates Stadium

12:36PM BST 05 May 2012

Podolski will join Arsenal in a £10.9 million summer move from Cologne while fellow forward Van Persie, who has one year remaining on his contract, thrashes out his future at the club.

Van Persie, Arsenal's top scorer this season with 35 goals, has given few clues over his intentions, though manager Arsene Wenger said on Friday that he is "quiet confident" the Dutchman will prolong his eight-year stay in north London.

Van Persie again ducked the issue of his future in his match programme notes for Saturday's Premier League clash with Norwich at the Emirates, but heaped praise on Podolski.

"Lukas will be joining the club next season and I'm really happy about that. He's been at the highest level for eight or nine years now, scoring lots of goals and consistently proving to be a really good player," said Van Persie.

"He has a really good left foot shot and can play in a couple of positions which is important for us as our game involves a lot of movement and interchanging."